Mobile liquid-aerating pump

ABSTRACT

A liquid-aerating pump, particularly for fish farms, has an airliquid mixing chamber mounted in a submergible intake and a double vane helical screw impeller structure adjacent to the opening into the pump casing to effect an additional step in combining liquid and air. The pump may be used either standing upright from a foot plate or as a self-propelled craft moving over a predetermined path while aerating the water on which it is floating.

United States Patent Jones [4 1 Nov. 26, 1974 [54] MOBILELIQUID-AERATING PUMP 3,183,878 5/1965 Aschauer 60/222 3,288,100 11/1966Cox et al. 115/11 [76] Inventor: James BOX 134, 3,496,901 2/1970Stanfield et a1. 115/12 R Fordyce, Ark. 71742 [22] Filed; J 16, 1974Primary ExaminerTrygve M. Blix Assistant ExaminerStuart M. Goldstein[21] Appl' 433,963 Attorney, Agent, or FirmRalph R. Pittman Related US.Application Data [62] Division ofSer. No. 263,811, June 19, 1972, Pat.No. [57] ABSTRACT 3,807,708. A liquid-aerating pump, particularly forfish farms, has

an air-liquid mixing chamber mounted in a submerg- [52] US. Cl. 115/11ible intake and a double vane helical screw impeller [51] Int. Cl B63h11/08 structure adjacent to the opening into the pump casing [58] Fieldof Search 115/11, 12 R; 60/221, 222, to effect an additional step incombining liquid and 60/230, 231; 261/29, 93, 120 air. The pump may beused either standing upright from a foot plate or as a self-propelledcraft moving [56] References Cited over a predetermined path whileaerating the water on UNITED STATES PATENTS whlch 1t 15 floating-2,233,231 2/1941 Vincent 115/11 3 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures MOBILELIQUID-AERATING PUMP BACKGROUND This application is a division of myprior application Ser. No. 263,811, now US. Pat. No. 3,807,708, filedJune 19, 1972 and relates generally to apparatus for combining gases andliquids, and more specifically to a mobile water-aerating pumping craftadapted for use in connection with fish farming.

Either lack of rainfall or oxygen-producing organic matter in a fishpond may "retard the replenishment of the dissolved oxygen to such adegree that a fish crop will be lost, the fish dying from suffocation.During dry spells-evaporation from fish ponds often is replaced by wellwater which is high in carbon dioxide and substantially devoid ofoxygen; the addition of this sort of water adds to the already excessiveamount of carbon dioxide which has been produced by the fish.

Many live bait storage tanks and aquariums combined with aerators havebeen described. Such apparatus is not adapted for fish ponds coveringacres of surface, and of course are not intended for such sevice.Equipment for supplying bottled oxygen to the water of fish farms hasbeen described; also equipment located at the bottom of ponds forreplacing top water with bottom water, some with accompanying aeration,is found in the prior art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The aerating pump'described herein utilizes theprinciple of turbulent mixing to combine a liquid, such as water, withair drawn into the pump. The mixing begins adjacent to a submergedintake entrance opening, in an air-liquid mixing chamber mounted in theintake member. Air is supplied through an air intake tube extendingabove the surface of the water being treated. The mixing continues asthe air-liquid combination is further blended by contact with a doublescrew impellerturbulator near the lower end of an upstanding pumpcasing.

The aerated liquid is then lifted vertically by an impeller screw todischargeabove the surface of the liquid under treatment. In shallowwater the aerating pump may stand upright on a foot plate; for use indeep water an embodiment in the form of a floating self-propelled craftis provided, the craft being selectively adjustable to move as theaerating process proceeds over various lengths of circular paths, oralternately, along a rectilinear course.

The invention requires no delicate parts or expensive constructionmaterials, the larger members being readily constructed by joiningcommonly available steel shapes, such as plates, strip and tubing, bywelding. The suggested welded construction is well adapted to withstandrough handling.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an elevationsl view of thepump, shown principally in section; 1

FIG. 2 is a plan view; FIG. 3 is a sectional view along the line 3 3 ofFIG. I;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary end view, looking into the intake member of thepump;

FIG. 5 is an elevational view of an aerating craft adapted for operationwhile moving over a body of water;

FIG. 6 is a side elevational view of the liquid-air mixing chamber,drawn to a larger scale than that in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 7 is a plan view'of a boat with the floating craft in position tomove the boat as the pump operates.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The construction shown in FIG. 1is that of the aerating pump of the invention standing upright from afoot plate. The structure shown in FIG. 5 illustrates the invention on afloat for operation in water too deep for the standing position.

Referring in detail to FIGS. 1 through 4, an elongate upstandingcylindrical pump casing 10 has, at the lower end of the casing, atubular inlet member 1 1 projecting in one direction outwardly from thepump casing, and at the upper end of the casing, a tubular outlet ordischarge member 12 projecting in the opposite direction. The simpleststructure results when the casing, intake and discharge members have thesame inside diameter.

place by the surrounding socket 19.

At the upper end of the casing 10 an outwardly extending flat mountingplate 15 is securely joined, to which a rearwardly extending motormounting bracket is removably attached by the gasteners 28. The motormounting bracket includes a first horizontally extending plate 23 inregistration with the mounting plate 15, a second horizontally extendingplate 24 disposed at an elevation above the first plate 23 and extendingrearwardly therefrom, and a vertical wall 31 joining the rear margin ofthe first plate 23 to the forward margin of the plate 24. A pair ofstiffening side plates 32 are rigidly joined to the respective lateralmargins of the plates 23 and 24.

A motor 25, which may be either an electric or a fuelburning motor, maybe mounted over the slots 41 of the upper plate 24, with an extendedshaft passing vertically downward through the central opening 29 in theupper plate, a driving pulley, being secured to the end of the motorshaft for rotation in a horizontal plane.

A driven pulley 27 is keyed to the outstanding upper end of the impellershaft 20, in horizontal alignment with the pulley of the driving motor,and the power transmission belt 26, which passes through the opening 30of the wall 31, is adapted to deliver power to rotate the impellershaft. Between the pulley 27 and the upper casing plate 15 a bearing 16and the associated bearing socket 17 are interposed, for maintaining thedesired axial alignment of the impeller shaft 20 within the pump casing10. Nylon has been found to be one suitable material for both the upperand lower bearings.

The impeller has long and short helical impeller screws 21 and 22spiraled around and rigidly secured to the shaft along the entire lengthof the impellers, the vane of each impeller screw, except for marginalrotational clearance, extending radially to the interior verticalsurface of the casing 10. The long impeller screw 21 extends within thecasing from an elevation above the discharge opening to an elevationbelow the intake opening, both the diameter and the pitch of theimpeller screw being substantially equal to the diameter of the casing.The short impeller screw 22 extends upwardly from a point on the shaftdiametrically opposed to the lowermost portion of the long impellerscrew, spiraling upwardly around the shaft with the same diameter andpitch as that of the long impeller screw to an elevation of not morethan one-half of the length of the long impeller screw.

The rearwardly extending foot plate 14 provides a support for the unitwhile standing on a flat surface. The foot plate is located under thetubular liquid intake 11, and the outer end of the latter is rigidlyjoined to the foot plate by the vertically extending outer support plate35. A screen 33 is disposed over the outer end of the liquid intake toprevent the entrance of solid obects.

An air-liquid mixing chamber 34, in the shape of a hollow cylinder, issecured along the top inner surface of the intake 11, the chamber beingclosed at the end adjacent to the intake screen by the end closure 39,and opening at the other end into the pump casing, as indicated at thenumeral 40 in FIG. 6.

A series of rearwardly and downwardly projecting baffles 38 are disposedalong the lower outer surface of the mixing chamber, in position todeflect liquid moving through the intake upward into the mixing chamberthrough the slotted openings 37. The lower ends of the baffles terminateatan elevation of not less than onehalf the inside diameter of theintake tube; e.g., if the intake tube has a diameter of 3 inches, thelowermost ends of the baffles are not more than 1 /2 inches above thelowermost inner surface of the intake member.

Adjacent to the closed end of the mixing chamber an air opening 36provides for the entrance of air into the chamber from the upwardlyextending tubular air intake 13, the air being drawn into the chamber inresponse to movement ofliquid, e.g., water, along the liquid intakemember.

The rotation of the double-vane portion of the impeller structureturbulently further blends the air-water mixture as it leaves the intakemember, thus effecting a supplementary solution of the oxygencomponent'of the air with the water.

An embodiment of the invention for flotation operation on a body ofwater, such as a fish farm pond, is illustrated at FIG. 5. A floatmember 42, which may be composed of polystyrene foam, supports theaerating pump at a selective intake depth, determined by adjusting theposition of the clamping members 43 along the casing as desired, andtightening the clamping bolts 44.

If the driving motor is operating and the craft is freely floating instill water, it will traverse a rectilinear path while pumping aeratedwater. The movement of the craft is caused by the cumulative push-pulljet effect of water moving through the pump, the discharge acting topush the craft, and the intake coacting to pull the craft in the samedirection.

The craft may also be directed along a circular path by fitting theangular rubber nozzle 47 over the end of the discharge tube anddeflecting the discharge in a sidewise direction. The size of thecircular path may be adjusted by suitable alterations in the directionof discharge. To preclude movement of the pump with respect to theassociated float when the craft is moving along a circular path, theupper surface of the float adjacent to the pump casing is in the form ofan aluminum plate 46 which is provided with a rectangular recess intowhich the respective outstanding arms of the clamping members 43 arefitted.

The flotation embodiment shown in FIG. 5 may also be used to propel aboat, either by pulling or pushing it. FIG. 7 illustrates the aeratingpump engaged with the stern of the boat 48.

In operation, the motor or engine rotates the impeller assembly in aclockwise direction viewed from above, and the rate fo discharge isdetermined by the speed of rotation. As the impeller assemby rotates,the short spiral vane coacts with the long spiral vane, between theconvolutions of which it is interlaced, not only to function as aturbulator but also to increase the quantity of liquid pumped at anyoperating speed.

What is claimed is:

1. A self-propelled fish pond aerating craft comprising a water-aeratingpump, said pump having a vertically disposed tubular casing andoppositely facing tubular intake and discharge members joined to thecasing at the respective lower and upper ends thereof, a float adaptedto support said pump while partially submerged in a body of water,adjustable clamping means secured to said casing and engaging the uppersurface of said float, said clamping means being positioned to disposethe discharge member above the top of the float and the intake memberbelow the bottom of the float, an air-water mixing chamber mountedwithin said intake member, a tubular air inlet member in communicationwith said mixing chamber and extending upwardly through said float andterminating thereabove, and rotatable impeller means in said casingeffective to move air and water from the respective inlet and intakemembers to said discharge member, said impeller means turbulently mixingthe air and water, the jet reaction of the water moving through theintake member combining with the jet reaction of the air-water mixturemoving through said discharge member to propel the craft along a pathdefined by a vertical plane passing through the axes of the intake anddischarge members.

2. A self-propelled fish pond aerating craft comprising a water-aeratingpump, said pump having a vertically disposed tubular casing andoppositely facing tubular intake and discharge members joined to thecusing at the respective lower and upper ends thereof, a float adaptedto support said pump while partially submerged in a body of water,adjustable clamping means secured to said casing and engaging the uppersurface of said float, said clamping means being positioned to disposethe discharge member above the top of the float and the intake memberbelow the bottom of the float, an air-water mixing chamber mountedwithin said intake member, a tubular air inlet member in communicationwith said mixing chamber and extending upwardly through said float andterminating thereabove, rotatable impeller means in said casingeffective to move liquid and air from the respective intake and inietmembers to said discharge member, and a removably attachable dischargenozzle fitted over the end of the discharge member and selectivelyadjustable to deflect water over a predetermined lateral path withrespect to the axis of the discharge member, the jet reaction of thedeflected water effecting movement of said craft along a curvilinearpath.

3. The subject matter of claim 2, wherein said float comprises anon-metallic flotation member and a metallic plate member disposedadjacent to said pump casing and on the upper surface of said flotationmember, said plate having a recess extending radially from said casing,a portion of said clamping means being seated in said recess, wherebyrotation of said pump with respect to said float is precluded.

1. A self-propelled fish pond aerating craft comprising a wateraeratingpump, said pump having a vertically disposed tubular casing andoppositely facing tubular intake and discharge members joined to thecasing at the respective lower and upper ends thereof, a float adaptedto support said pump while partially submerged in a body of water,adjustable clamping means secured to said casing and engaging the uppersurface of said float, said clamping means being positioned to disposethe discharge member above the top of the float and the intake memberbelow the bottom of the float, an air-water mixing chamber mountedwithin said intake member, a tubular air inlet member in communicationwith said mixing chamber and extending upwardly through said float andterminating thereabove, and rotatable impeller means in said casingeffective to move air and water from the respective inlet and intakemembers to said discharge member, said impeller means turbulently mixingthe air and water, the jet reaction of the water moving through theintake member combining with the jet reaction of the air-water mixturemoving through said discharge member to propel the craft along a pathdefined by a vertical plane passing through the axes of the intake anddischarge members.
 2. A self-propelled fish pond aerating craftcomprising a water-aerating pump, said pump having a vertically disposedtubular casing and oppositely facing tubular intake and dischargemembers joined to the casing at the respective lower and upper endsthereof, a float adapted to support said pump while partially submergedin a body of water, adjustable clamping means secured to said casing andengaging the upper surface of said float, said clamping means beingpositioned to dispose the discharge member above the top of the floatand the intake member below the bottom of the float, an air-water mixingchamber mounted within said intake member, a tubular air inlet member incommunication with said mixing chamber and extending upwardly throughsaid float and terminating thereabove, rotatable impeller means in saidcasing effective to move liquid and air from the respective intake andinlet members to said discharge member, and a removably attachabledischarge nozzle fitted over the end of the discharge member andselectively adjustable to deflect water over a predetermined lateralpath with respect to the axis of the discharge member, the jet reactionof the deflected water effecting movement of said craft along acurvilinear path.
 3. The subject matter of claim 2, wherein said floatcomprises a non-metallic flotation member and a metallic plate memberdisposed adjacent to said pump casing and on the upper surface of saidflotation member, said plate having a recess extending radially fromsaid casing, a portion of said clamping means being seated in saidrecess, whereby rotation of said pump with respect to said float isprecluded.